Its June 4, 2009 as I draft this and the realization that five months are behind me in my adventure to the other side of the earth. Close to half done should I stay only for a year as my original contract is written. I am no closer to making that decision other than what I have said previously that I would be foolhardy to come back to Winnipeg in January. Just when I think I’m coming to terms with my new life you have some new experiences that makes you think your situation all over again. Such was the case last weekend when our project manager came from Winnipeg to visit his troops. Whenever he is here we discuss what our weekend adventure might be, we bandied about three options: charter a boat and go to Arturo, the Timor island some 10kms off shore from Dili, drive to Jacko, another apparently spectacular island at the extreme eastern edge of the island or our third choice, drive to the south side of the island. The latter won out as part of the journey could include business and visit the gas seeps in Ali Ambata. Timor is not a particularly large island (roughly 120kms across north to south, and 300kms east to west to the Indonesian border with whom we share the island) in raw geography, but in terms of travel these distances become very large as a result of the anachronistic infrastructure (or lack thereof) on the island.
Our weekend started after work on Friday as the two vehicles and 6 people met on the outskirts of town to depart at 7pm (as we are getting closer to the shortest day of the year it was already dark) – road kabobs from Antonio and a couple of pizza’s and our convoy departed on what was going to be a long tough drive ahead of us. Unfortunately as it was night I didn’t get to enjoy the scenery that took us east to Baucau then south to Viqueque (say vi-keck-ee). We arrived at our destination some 5 or 6 hours after our departure as a result of narrow, bumpy, rough roads. We had booked a lodge just outside of town, which was a large house with several guest rooms. Mine was a simple, utilitarian room with two single beds and a table in between. The bathroom down the hall was typical Indonesian – unisex, one corner being a large open tank of water with a hand scoop and the other a piece of porcelain on the floor where one must squat to do one's business. As late as our arrival was, it was made later with the debriefing outside on the deck over beers and cigars (for some). It must have been 2:30am when everyone finally packed it in.
In the morning we awoke to a spectacular tropical environment with rock, pillar like mountains surrounding us, and thick bush and the sound of a river beneath us. Without delay we had breakfast, which was included in our room rate of $25/night (not to mention the fact that we were probably an hour from a restaurant if there was one). It was a simple affair consisting of coffee, tea, one big omelette to share and homemade rolls.
For our stay we had found a local guide who had recommended we take in three sites: the waterfall, the cave, followed by a swim in the river just down the hill from the lodge. First stop was a natural spring fed waterfall that cascaded from some 20 meters above us (see photo above) down to the side of the road we parked on, then continued on underneath the road to 8 containment ponds where a government sponsored fish farm was set up. Beautiful as it was set in the lush green of the jungle surrounding it. The next stop was the cave, a 15 minute drive from the waterfall that required a 45 minute uphill hike through the jungle to reach. Not knowing what to expect I just enjoyed the hike in the jungle. However the cave was amazing – within a small opening we descended, crouched, and downhill where a different world waited. Like you might see on a TV documentary it was a wonder of mineral deposits cast in a plethora of base colors from snow white, to all shades of browns, reds and golds in amazing formations that created wonderful open caverns of stalactites, and stalagmites (how often do you get to use those words?). Oh and did I mention the bats that fled unexpectedly when a flashlight was turned on suddenly! However good the experience was it was tempered by my sudden claustrophobia as I became aware of the negative possibilities, that could, if not careful, render you lost in utter darkness, the musty smell, and the twists and turns that went on endlessly much further than we could ever explore. When I saw the proverbial ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ I was relieved to have the steamy, windless heat of the jungle upon me again. The hike back to the vehicles was uneventful where we discussed the day thus far over cold Tiger beer and tequila. Another observation was our cushy little western world standards; as we hiked up and down the mountain we discussed the most appropriate footwear for the hike, never thinking about the man setting the pace ahead of us, the guide who wore the official shoe of Timor Leste – the flip flop.
The final stop was the river, and from my point of view the crown jewel of our day. We quickly changed into our swimwear and headed down to the riverbed. Surrounded on all sides by the lush jungle was a riverbed made up of huge boulders, which formed the tributary providing the escape for rains in the mountains above. After a tenuous bare footed hike over and across the rocks we found our entry point of a opaque, milky blue stream of cool, refreshing water that ebbed and flowed over, above, and under the boulders in endless little waterfalls. The others must have felt the same way as we all had ear to ear smiles pasted across our faces during our hour and a half swim.
Up to that point the day was a 10 out of 10 without reproach. The fun didn’t stop quite yet as we made another 2 hour drive (only about 50kms) to Ali Ambata to see the gas seeps. Gas seeps are for all intensive purposes a free propane BBQ. The gas literally “seeps” from underground and burns continually. How they were first ignited no one knows but burn it did as we could clearly see as we arrived in the dark. Imagine a relatively rocky slope about the size of a normal back yard at home that burned in an endless blue and yellow spectacle. It just so happened that we had a few beef tenderloins with us and so taking advantage of our free heat source piled our rocks just so, grilled our meat and feasted on grilled tenderloin bits. Sweet.
Unfortunately it went quickly downhill from there. As it turned out I had to drive one of the vehicles home as Don carelessly drank from the spring fed waterfall earlier and got violently ill. So at 8pm we departed Ali Ambata enroute to Los Palos. This was quite the adventure with Don writhing in pain in the backseat as we made our way to the town where the women demand a 70 water buffalo dowry prior to marriage. The downfall was a result of the so called road, which really wasn’t a road at all, but a twisty turny backwoods trail with not a soul around. We had heard from a local that we stopped on the side of the road that the road was OK if you had a 4-wheel drive and in hindsight he was being generous. It was a 4-wheel drive adventure thru dense jungle on washed our rocky trails that also crossed crocodile infested rivers (thankfully none were sighted) that would put any car magazine four-wheel drive shootout comparison to shame. The entire time fear gripped me, as I knew that any breakdown would mean one of two things or both – forced to sleep in our vehicles and then a long, long walk to civilization without any assurance that someone would have the capability to help us out when we got there. Thankfully our only incident is when the other vehicle punctured a tire – never have I been so relieved to see a flat tire! The vehicles probably lost 3 to 4 years of their expected life spans thanks to the trip but we did make it out. As it turned out our wrong turn we made to try and get back to Baucau (we ended up in Com some 50kms east of Baucau and that much further from Dili) was a lucky break. Our partner vehicle, didn’t find vacancy at the only descent rooms in town and were forced to stay in some $10/night dive.
The next morning up and back to Dili in a nice uneventful daylight drive to the relative safety and security of Dili (who would have thought)!
A land of wonder, think of all that I see
Our weekend started after work on Friday as the two vehicles and 6 people met on the outskirts of town to depart at 7pm (as we are getting closer to the shortest day of the year it was already dark) – road kabobs from Antonio and a couple of pizza’s and our convoy departed on what was going to be a long tough drive ahead of us. Unfortunately as it was night I didn’t get to enjoy the scenery that took us east to Baucau then south to Viqueque (say vi-keck-ee). We arrived at our destination some 5 or 6 hours after our departure as a result of narrow, bumpy, rough roads. We had booked a lodge just outside of town, which was a large house with several guest rooms. Mine was a simple, utilitarian room with two single beds and a table in between. The bathroom down the hall was typical Indonesian – unisex, one corner being a large open tank of water with a hand scoop and the other a piece of porcelain on the floor where one must squat to do one's business. As late as our arrival was, it was made later with the debriefing outside on the deck over beers and cigars (for some). It must have been 2:30am when everyone finally packed it in.
In the morning we awoke to a spectacular tropical environment with rock, pillar like mountains surrounding us, and thick bush and the sound of a river beneath us. Without delay we had breakfast, which was included in our room rate of $25/night (not to mention the fact that we were probably an hour from a restaurant if there was one). It was a simple affair consisting of coffee, tea, one big omelette to share and homemade rolls.
For our stay we had found a local guide who had recommended we take in three sites: the waterfall, the cave, followed by a swim in the river just down the hill from the lodge. First stop was a natural spring fed waterfall that cascaded from some 20 meters above us (see photo above) down to the side of the road we parked on, then continued on underneath the road to 8 containment ponds where a government sponsored fish farm was set up. Beautiful as it was set in the lush green of the jungle surrounding it. The next stop was the cave, a 15 minute drive from the waterfall that required a 45 minute uphill hike through the jungle to reach. Not knowing what to expect I just enjoyed the hike in the jungle. However the cave was amazing – within a small opening we descended, crouched, and downhill where a different world waited. Like you might see on a TV documentary it was a wonder of mineral deposits cast in a plethora of base colors from snow white, to all shades of browns, reds and golds in amazing formations that created wonderful open caverns of stalactites, and stalagmites (how often do you get to use those words?). Oh and did I mention the bats that fled unexpectedly when a flashlight was turned on suddenly! However good the experience was it was tempered by my sudden claustrophobia as I became aware of the negative possibilities, that could, if not careful, render you lost in utter darkness, the musty smell, and the twists and turns that went on endlessly much further than we could ever explore. When I saw the proverbial ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ I was relieved to have the steamy, windless heat of the jungle upon me again. The hike back to the vehicles was uneventful where we discussed the day thus far over cold Tiger beer and tequila. Another observation was our cushy little western world standards; as we hiked up and down the mountain we discussed the most appropriate footwear for the hike, never thinking about the man setting the pace ahead of us, the guide who wore the official shoe of Timor Leste – the flip flop.
The final stop was the river, and from my point of view the crown jewel of our day. We quickly changed into our swimwear and headed down to the riverbed. Surrounded on all sides by the lush jungle was a riverbed made up of huge boulders, which formed the tributary providing the escape for rains in the mountains above. After a tenuous bare footed hike over and across the rocks we found our entry point of a opaque, milky blue stream of cool, refreshing water that ebbed and flowed over, above, and under the boulders in endless little waterfalls. The others must have felt the same way as we all had ear to ear smiles pasted across our faces during our hour and a half swim.
Up to that point the day was a 10 out of 10 without reproach. The fun didn’t stop quite yet as we made another 2 hour drive (only about 50kms) to Ali Ambata to see the gas seeps. Gas seeps are for all intensive purposes a free propane BBQ. The gas literally “seeps” from underground and burns continually. How they were first ignited no one knows but burn it did as we could clearly see as we arrived in the dark. Imagine a relatively rocky slope about the size of a normal back yard at home that burned in an endless blue and yellow spectacle. It just so happened that we had a few beef tenderloins with us and so taking advantage of our free heat source piled our rocks just so, grilled our meat and feasted on grilled tenderloin bits. Sweet.
Unfortunately it went quickly downhill from there. As it turned out I had to drive one of the vehicles home as Don carelessly drank from the spring fed waterfall earlier and got violently ill. So at 8pm we departed Ali Ambata enroute to Los Palos. This was quite the adventure with Don writhing in pain in the backseat as we made our way to the town where the women demand a 70 water buffalo dowry prior to marriage. The downfall was a result of the so called road, which really wasn’t a road at all, but a twisty turny backwoods trail with not a soul around. We had heard from a local that we stopped on the side of the road that the road was OK if you had a 4-wheel drive and in hindsight he was being generous. It was a 4-wheel drive adventure thru dense jungle on washed our rocky trails that also crossed crocodile infested rivers (thankfully none were sighted) that would put any car magazine four-wheel drive shootout comparison to shame. The entire time fear gripped me, as I knew that any breakdown would mean one of two things or both – forced to sleep in our vehicles and then a long, long walk to civilization without any assurance that someone would have the capability to help us out when we got there. Thankfully our only incident is when the other vehicle punctured a tire – never have I been so relieved to see a flat tire! The vehicles probably lost 3 to 4 years of their expected life spans thanks to the trip but we did make it out. As it turned out our wrong turn we made to try and get back to Baucau (we ended up in Com some 50kms east of Baucau and that much further from Dili) was a lucky break. Our partner vehicle, didn’t find vacancy at the only descent rooms in town and were forced to stay in some $10/night dive.
The next morning up and back to Dili in a nice uneventful daylight drive to the relative safety and security of Dili (who would have thought)!
A land of wonder, think of all that I see
Always under the shade of a nearby palm tree
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